Usually I don't like making duplicate posts, nor do I like speculating about PTR content.

However, in the 4.2 PTR, Blizzard has removed agility's contribution to dodge for protection paladins (and most other tank specs). Were this to go live, and assuming Blizzard doesn't plan to compensate tanks in any way, then many pieces that have been recommended as good, great, or even best-in-slot for some stages may become worthless.

Awyndel wrote:Yup seems like we need to get the nefarian neck now, cloak from alakir or back to rep cloak. Ring from conclave prolly. Make sure you have some str/mastery items rdy when the patch comes!

waht?Correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the nefarian neck has agi?Why would you wanna get thatone now?Also, alakir drops permafrost back AND neck, pretty sure its BiS for its ilvl.What ring are you sporting if your not using conclave ring?Pretty sure conclave 359+badge 359 are BiS untill you get 372 conclave + sinestra ring.

Awyndel wrote:Yup seems like we need to get the nefarian neck now, cloak from alakir or back to rep cloak. Ring from conclave prolly. Make sure you have some str/mastery items rdy when the patch comes!

waht?Correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the nefarian neck has agi?Why would you wanna get thatone now?

And to the post even before this.waht?

The "Nefarian neck" Rage of Ages has strength, not agility. And, if you recently passed on it because you had a "better" neck with agility, you might choose to kick yourself now.

Maybe not, but your prolly killing conclave on normal, that ring is tons times better than the rep ring, and the valor one is pretty awesome aswell.And like i said, alakir, normal or heroic, drops the BiS neck for its ilvl.And if your not killing alakir on normal, but your killing nefarian, the neck from ZG is still better than the normal nefarian neck.Also, atramedes neck is even better, even if it doesnt have mastery on it, its got so much dodge that it still comes out ahead on CTC.

Treck wrote:Also, atramedes neck is even better, even if it doesnt have mastery on it, its got so much dodge that it still comes out ahead on CTC.

You mean the Ironstar Amulet? It's awful for CTC. Remember that dodge rating is only about 36% as good for CTC as mastery rating. In such a ranking the heroic Ironstar is worse than non-heroic Rage of Ages, Buc-Zakai Choker, Necklace of Strife, Permafrost Bedrock/Rockslab, and Don Rod's (as of now). The non-heroic version is worse than non-raiding necks such as Red Sky Pendant, Baroness Silverlaine's, Lightless Grotto, Lustrous Eye, Acorn, Carrier Wave Pendant, and is worse than any other raid neck that could be called a tank piece.

Take a look at the numbers yourself in the tabular mastery/dodge table. The amount of dodge rating required to equal 1 mastery rating for CTC should be between 2.6 and 3.2 for most tanks, depending on their existing dodge percent.

I use CTC/stamina ratio's, so my numbers might come out a little different.

Anyway, seriously guys, I just named some replacement options with mastery for the slots in wich ppl might be using agility items. So rings, neck and cloak. I could have mentioned weapons too I suppose, but ppl have more options there.

The agility ring is almost equal to the valor ring, or the conclave ring, in CTC and avoidance. The other choices mentioned are pretty much up to personal gearing strategy, and what you're farming atm. Just make sure you have an item ready for those slots when time comes.

For neck, non-raiders drop to the Buc-Zakai choker as BiS, which costs some CTC and avoidance compared to Don's but is still purple. Cloak is no problem at all with Wrap of the Great Turtle. Ring is the biggest issue for non-raiders; while Ring of the Battle Anthem is still good for one finger, the other finger drops all the way down to the Red Rock Band. That's an iLvl decrease.

Still, by the time this matters, there will be new gear for all with the new patch. We'll survive. And it will make gearing lists much shorter.